venerdì 19 febbraio 2016

Archeologia e Folkore (o cultura popolare)

LIBRI

Archaeology and Folklore

di Amy Gazin-Schwartz, Cornelius J. Holtorf, London 1999, 2005

Archaeology and folklore are two of the many lenses through which the past is given meaning, and it is the aim of this volume to explore and understand differences and similarities in how archaeology and folklore create, and are created through, ideas about the past. In the intersections between these similarities and differences, we hope to find new lenses, through which we can begin to create alternative images of people’s histories.

Disciplines inevitably tend to look inward, to drag their practitioners into a narrower and narrower focus, often at the expense of connection with the outside world. This is a fundamental problem with academe: How do we avoid our work becoming more and more abstract, more and more esoteric and yet, at the same time, not sacrifice quality and intellectual depth?

Two American curators talking: "Have you realised that the Italians have stopped asking us about the works of art that we accidentally bought off the art dealers, Bob"? "Don't talk too soon, Jeff. They haven't realised yet that the statue of David has gone missing from the Piazza della Signoria"!

Most mothers tell their daughters to marry doctors... I told mine to marry an archeologist because the older she gets, the more interested he will be in her. (http://www.yuksrus.com/archaeol.html)

An archaeologist was digging in the Negev Desert in Israel and came upon a casket containing a mummy. After examining it, he called the curator of a prestigious natural history museum. "I've just discovered a 3,000 year old mummy of a man who died of heart failure!" the excited scientist exclaimed. To which the curator replied, "Bring him in. We'll check it out." A week later, the amazed curator called the archaeologist. "You were right about the mummy's age and cause of death. How in the world did you know?" "Easy. There was a piece of paper in his hand that said, '10,000 Shekels on Goliath'." (http://www.yuksrus.com/archaeol.html)

An archeologist is a person whose career lies in ruins! (http://www.yuksrus.com/archaeol.html)